eprintid: 10203242
rev_number: 18
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/20/32/42
datestamp: 2025-01-13 10:45:04
lastmod: 2025-03-14 13:00:00
status_changed: 2025-03-14 13:00:00
type: thesis
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Li, Zehao
title: Walls across Eurasia: A Computational Comparative Study of Imperial Linear Defence Systems
ispublished: unpub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B03
divisions: C03
divisions: F31
note: Copyright © The Author 2025.   Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).  Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms.  Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.
abstract: A whole series of state and imperial linear defence systems appear across China, the Middle East and Europe during the 1st millennia BCE and CE. However, a suitable framework for systematically comparing these fortifications is still lacking, with existing research often providing only simplistic, general parallels without examining similarities and differences in sufficient detail. Thanks to recent fieldwork and the high quality of existing primary data, especially about Hadrian's Wall and the Qin-Han Walls in China, it is now possible to develop a fuller quantitative, spatial, computational and comparative study. This dissertation investigates the motivations and practical roles behind linear fortifications, evaluating their defensive capabilities, focusing on Hadrian's Wall and the Qin-Han Walls. It examines their locational principles, construction techniques, labour costs, wider imperial impacts, and other strategic considerations, situating them within broader military and strategic systems of the ancient world. By employing geomorphometric characterisation, spatial interaction modelling, and 3D labour cost estimates, this study offers a new perspective on these remarkable fortifications.
date: 2025-01-28
date_type: published
full_text_type: other
thesis_class: doctoral_embargoed
thesis_award: Ph.D
language: eng
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2352213
lyricists_name: Li, Zehao
lyricists_id: ZLIGX62
actors_name: Li, Zehao
actors_id: ZLIGX62
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: restricted
pagerange: 1-457
pages: 457
institution: UCL (University College London)
department: Institute of Archaeology
thesis_type: Doctoral
citation:        Li, Zehao;      (2025)    Walls across Eurasia: A Computational Comparative Study of Imperial Linear Defence Systems.                   Doctoral thesis  (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).    
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10203242/13/Li_10203242__Thesis_Vol1.pdf
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10203242/3/ZehaoLi_Vol2_Appendices.pdf